He who reduced the metal to fluid by heat and solvents, as borax, alkali or lead (Isaiah 1:25; Jeremiah 6:29), to remove the dross. His instruments were the crucible or furnace ("fining pot," Proverbs 17:3) and the blowpipe or bellows. Affliction removes the dross from the godly (1 Peter 1:7). But the fiery ordeal only hardens the reprobate (Jeremiah 5:3; Isaiah 9:10). Translated for "tower" and "fortress" (Jeremiah 6:27), "I have set thee for an assayer and explorer," separating the metal from the dross "among My people." In Malachi 3:2-3, Christ "shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and shall purify the sons of Levi." The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his eye on the metal, taking care the heat is not too great, and keeping the metal in only until, by seeing his own image reflected in the glowing mass, he knows the dross is completely removed. So the Lord with His elect (Romans 8:29; Job 23:10; Psalms 66:10; Proverbs 17:3; Isaiah 48:10; Hebrews 12:10).